Transfer mechanism for tile-making machine



March 28, 1961 c, c, COOK ET AL 2,976,595

TRANSFER MECHANISM FOR TILE-MAKING MACHINE Filed Jan. 27, 1958 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 m 3 & 3 y N we 1 1 x a m mg v "3 (\l l N) m 5 &

, N R. L

INVENTORS: CLIFFORD C. COOK JAMES E. HOWARD, %(ALE V. THOMPSON;

ATTORNEYS March 28, 1961 c, c. coo ETAL 2,976,595

TRANSFER MECHANISM FOR TILE-MAKING MACHINE Filed Jan. 27, 1958 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 4 \27'/ 27 24 U" F/G. 5

INVENTORfi: 27-1 CLIFFORD c. COOK, 24 JAMES E. HOWARD,

ALE

I L y OMPSON,

I l/ M U 27 I 7( I ATTORNEYS.

March 28, 1961 c, c, COOK E 2,976,595

TRANSFER MECHANISM FOR TILE-MAKING MACHINE Filed Jan. 27, 1958 4 Shets-Sheet 5 INVENTORS, $559 %Oa2s5 sdr;

W ATTORNEYS.

March 28, 1961 c. c. COOK ETAL 2,976,595

TRANSFER MECHANISM FOR TILE-MAKING MACHINE Filed Jan. 27, 1958 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 I F/G. /4. F/G; w

cuFF F e c oK 76 K JAMES E. HOWARD,

76a 83 82 ALE v. THOMOljI,

ATTORNEYS.

TRANFER lViECHANlSN-I FOR TILE-MAKING MACHINE Clilford C. Cook and James E. Howard, Pocatello, and Dale Thompson, Boise, Idaho, assignors to National Ro-Tile Corporation, Boise, Idaho, a corporation of daho Filed Jan. 27, 1958, Ser. No. 711,230

4 Claims. (Cl. 25-43) This invention relates to tile-making machines, and more particularly to machines for making roofing tiles from cementitious aggregate.

Machines for making roofing tiles are well known. Patten Patent No. 2,705,069 and Willis Patent No. 2,734,249 are representative of the prior art. The Patten patent shows a conveyor for pallets, means for spreading and smoothing cementitious aggregate on the pallets, and a pick-up mechanism operating within the confines of the conveyor to lift the pallets and the thereon deposited, wet, tile shapes from such conveyor, turn them, and set them on a takeaway conveyor, the tile shapes being. trimmed on the" latter conveyor.

It is a principal object of this invention to provide a machine that not only obviates the turning of the pallets carrying the wet tile shapes, thus practically eliminating any vibration of these fragile shapes and avoiding possible damage thereto, but one that also insures constantly effective transfer by positively acting mechanism which is. simple and economical to construct and whose timing and action is not in any way affected by normal wear of the mechanical parts involved or of the conveyors.

An outstanding object is to minimize machine vibration and to eliminate any tendency toward deformation of the wet tile by such' vibration as is inevitable.

Other objects are to provide a positively driven pallettransfer mechanism that is so made as to give long service with little wear of operating parts; to provide a side mounting of the transfer mechanism, with provision for lifting the pallets from the pallet conveyor; to provide a transfer mechanism which maintains the pallets in ahorizontal position from the moment they are picked up to the moment they are set down on the take-away conveyor; to eliminate the use of cams for operating the transfer mecahnism; and to provide a transfer mechanism which is readily accessible, being to one side of and above the pallet conveyor, hence having all of its parts within reach for adjustment and lubrication or for replacement if necessary.

An outstanding feature of the invention is the provision of structurally separate pallet conveyor and take-away conveyor disposed at substantially right angles to each other, with interposed transfer mechanism effective to lift a'loaded pallet from the discharge end of the pallet conveyorand-to set it down on the feed end of the take-away conveyor, the angular disposition of the two conveyors making it unnecessary" to turn the loaded pallet during transfer. The separate nature and angular disp'ositionof the two conveyors minimize vibration of the machine and prevent detrimental change in direction of application, tothe loaded pallets, of whatever vibration is present.

Other objects and featuresof the invention will become apparent as the description progresses;

' In the accompanying drawings forming a part of this specification and illustrating one embodiment of. the invention: g g I a 7 Fig. 1 represents a top plan view of the machine, the

2,976,595 Patented Mar. as, 1961 the transfer mechanism for moving loaded pallets from the pallet conveyor to the take-away conveyor;

Fig. 3, a corresponding view looking from the left in Fig. 2, the trimmer being omitted and other parts being shown as broken away;

Fig. 4, a fragmentary vertical section taken on line 4-4 of Fig. 2 and Fig. 5 and showing the vibrator block and associated mechanism, the view being drawn to an enlarged scale;

Fig. 5, a vertical section taken on line 55 of Fig. 4 and drawn to the same enlarged scale;

Fig. 6, a vertical section taken on line 6--6 of Fig. 2 and drawn to a scale enlarged over that of Figs. 4 and 5;

Fig. 7, a fragmentary side elevation from the standpoint of line 77, Fig. 6, and showing the transfer mechanism in detail, a different position thereof than in Fig. 2 being indicated by the dotted lines;

Fig. 8, a fragmentary vertical section taken on line 88, Fig. 7, and showing the transfer mechanism inv closed or pallet-carrying position;

Fig. 9, a view corresponding to that of Fig. 8 but takenon the line 99, Fig. 8, and showing the transfer mechanism in open or pallet-releasing position;

Fig. 10, a fragmentary top plan drawn to the scale of Figs. 8 and 9 and showing the transfer mechanism in detail;

Fig. 11, a perspective view of a loaded pallet;

Fig. 12, an enlarged fragmentary elevation of the activator slide shown in Fig. 7;

Fig. 13, a transverse section on the line 13-13, Fig. 12;: and

Fig. 14, an enlarged fragmentary elevation showing in detail the shaft on which the activator slide moves.

Referring to the drawings:

In general, the machine includes a feed hopper which is supplied with cementitious aggregate from any suitable source, a conveyor for carrying pallets'beneath the hopper; means for depositing and spreading the aggregate on successive pallets as they pass below the hopper; a vibrator for facilitating feed and for tamping the formed tiles for enhancing the density and smoothness thereof, as well as for effecting troweling or finishing of the tile shape during extrusion thereof; a take-away conveyor peculiarly disposed with respect to the pallet conveyor; and transfer mechanism adapted to lift successive pallets with their respective, thereon, deposited, wet, tile shapes and to carry them to the take-away conveyor on which the tile shapes have their edges trimmed by rotary knives.

The hopper 20.(only the lower portion of which is illustrated) is mounted on a supporting frame 21 and may be filled with wet cementitious aggregate from time to time or continuously in any suitable manner having nothing to do with the present invention.

A power-rotated, pressure paddle wheel 22 having, in this example, twelve paddle blades arranged equi-angularly, turns on a horizontal axis within the lower part of the hopper and acts to force the aggregate down against the pallets 24, Figs. 4-, 5, and 11, which are carried by a horizontal conveyor 25 under the lower end of the hopper. The pallets are placed on conveyor 25 in any suitable manner, for example, manually by the operator of the machine, and are carried successively under the hopper.

Pallet conveyor 25 in this instance comprises two parallel sprocket chains 26; and '27, having pallet engaging and spacing flights 23 fixed thereon at intervals corresponding to the pallet length, such chains being meshed with pairs of sprocket wheels 29 and 3d at opposite ends of the supporting frame 21. A motor 31, Fig. 6, drives is old in the art.

asmcss the conveyor 25 through a belt 32, a reduction gear unit 33, its output shaft 33-1, a drive pinion 33-2, a meshing driven gear 34-1 and the countershaft 34 on which it is fixed, a gear 34-2 fixed on countershaft 34, and a gear 30-1 intermeshed therewith and fixed on sprocket shaft 30-2, Figs. 2 and 7. l

Blocks 27-1, Figs. 1, 4 and 5, affixed to sprocket chain 27, serve to support the pallets 24 intermediate their lengths.

A sprocket chain 35, Figs. 1 and 3, driven from reduction gear unit 33 by gearing 35-1, drives shaft 36, which turns the paddle 22.

Rotation of paddle wheel 22 applies a continuous and even pressure on the wet aggregate in hopper 29 to force it through an elongate extrusion opening 23, Fig. 4, definedat its top by a properly contoured, vibration block, to be described in detail hereinafter, and at its bottom by the upper surfaces of the passing pallets 24. Thus, the wet aggregate is extruded onto the successive pallets in the form of a continuous, pro-formed ribbon having the shape of the desired tiles. In general, this pallet-loading mechanism and procedure However, the particular vibrating arrangement is new, in that it provides a combined back and forth and up and down vibrating motion that trowels and finishes the deposited aggregate as well as aiding the extrusion and deposit thereof. Moreover, it provides easy adjustability to accommodate a variety of sizes and types of aggregate. -Fo1lowing loading of the successive pallets with the continuous ribbon of aggregate, it is necessary to break the ribbon between pallets and to trim the broken edges. This is done while conveying the loaded pallets to a convenient place of discharge from the machine. Heretofore, the loaded pallets havebeen picked up and turned through 90 degrees and set down upon a take-away conveyor aligned longitudinally. with and'forrning a structural part of the pallet conveyor.

The present invention involves a significant rearrangement of take-away conveyor relative tolpallet conveyor, together with special mechanism for transferring the loaded pallets from such pallet conveyor to such takeaway conveyor. The two conveyors are disposed at substantially right angles to each other, and the transfer mechanism merely picks up loaded pallets successively from the pallet conveyor and sets them down upon the take-away conveyor. The transfer mechanism of the invention, in this illustrated construction, includes a parallel motion linkage consisting of two parallel links 40 and 41 pivotally mounted at 42 and 43, respectively, on pivot pins fixed on a horizontal frame extension 44 bolted or otherwise secured to the supporting frame 21. The upper ends of parallel links 40, 41 are pivotally connected, as at 45, 46, respectively, to a short length of angleiron 47, which serves as a support for the pallet-lifting elements to be described, as Well as a connection link for parallel links 40, 41. The parallel motion linkage is thus supported by frame extension 44 so as to be swingable in a vertical plane that is offset to one side of the conveyor 25 at the discharge or delivery end thereof.

'l he power to swing the parallel motion linkage through the desired limited path is derived from a rotating crank 48 which is fixed to a gear 49, such gear being driven by a pinion 49a fixed .to a shaft 4% which is driven by the reduction gear unit 33, Fig. 6. Crank 48 has a slide 50 at its outer end, which slides up and down on link 41 as the crank rotates. Figs. 2 and 7 will make the action readily understood. The transfer mechanism includes a pallet-carrying or pallet pick-up and releasing mechanism. that is 'synchronized with the store-described movement of the parallel Figs. 6, 8, 9, and 10, this mechanism comprises a pair of inwardly positioned and vertically swingable hooks 51, 52 fixed to a horizontal rockshaft 53 at points well spaced apart, and a third, outwardly positioned and opposing hook 54 serving also as a bell crank lever pivoted on the outer end of a generally horizontal arm 55 to swing in a vertical plane midway between the respective planes of swing of the hooks 51 and 52. Arm 55 is welded or otherwise fixed to the angle iron 47 and extends at right angles thereto.

The plane of swing of hook 54 is halfway between the planes of swing of hooks 51, and 52. The three hooks together provide a three-point support for a pallet 24, being engageable under the pallet at its opposite sides to lift it oif pallet conveyor 25 without damaging its load.

Rockshaft 53 is parallel to angle iron 47 and turns in bearings provided on the outer ends of two shaft-supporting arms 56, 57, which are welded or otherwise secured to angle iron 47. Since angle iron 47 is part of a parallel motion linkage, it will always be horizontal, and rockshaft 53, likewise, will be horizontal at all times. Hooks 51, 52, 54 will always swing in vertical planes.

The upper end of the bell crank hook 54 is pivotally connected to the outer end of a link 58, whose other end is pivotally connected to a short perforated link 59 which is pivotally mounted on a member 60 welded to angle iron 47.

A tension coil spring 62 is secured at one end to the link 58 near its connection with hook 54, while its other end is anchored to the middle or immobile portion of a bell crank lever 63. Coil spring 62 thus constantly pulls on the upper end or actuating arm portion 54:: of hook 54, which causes the lower or bill end of said hook to tend to separate from the pallet. Bell crank lever 63 is pivoted on a bracket member 64 which is welded or otherwise secured to the bearing head 73 of a swing shaft 72 constituting part of actuating mechanism mounted on the parallel motion linkage and described later.

Link 65 (which includes a screw-threaded portion to make its length adjustable and rotatable for accommodating lateral swinging movement of bell crank 63) is pivotally connected at one end to the lower arm of bell crank lever 63. The opposite end of adjustable link 65 is pivotally connected to the perforated link 59 at a point intermediate its ends. Below the connection between links 65 and 59; another link 66 is pivotally connected to link 59 to make an operative connection between link 59 and a crank 67 which is pinned or otherwise secured to rockshaft 53. This construction causes simultaneous swinging of the pair of hooks 51, 52 and the opposed hook 54 toward each other, to the palletengaging position of Fig. 8, or away from each other, to the pallet-releasing position of Fig. 9, whenever the bell crank lever 63 is swung on its pivot. By adjustingthe length of threaded link 65, the operator is able to adjust the end positions of the hooks so that the operation will be satisfactory. Coil spring 62 is disconnected when such an adjustment is made.

To operate the hooks, bell crank lever 63 is swung by means of a link 70 which is pivotally connected to one arm of said lever and extends downwardly therefrom. The lower end of link 70 is pivotally connected to a bell crank lever 71, which in turn, is pivotally connected to a shaft 72, the bell crank lever 71- being swingable in a slot 710, Fig. 14 extending lengthwise of the shaft for a sufficient distance to accommodate lever 71.

Shaft 72 is suspended at its upper end by a bearing 73, Figs. 8-10, pivoted on a mounting block 74 which is welded or otherwise securedto the vertical flange of angle iron 47; hence, shaft 72 may swing freely in a vertical plane along with the parallel links 40 and 41. Bell crank lever 71 has an arm 75, which normally projects out from 7 slot 71a, seeFig. '9,'in the path of an activator slide -76 which'embraces shaft 72 and is slidable up and down thereon. Slide 76 is a hollow square in cross section,

Figs. 12 and 13, and has a slot 76a extending the entire length thereof to permit the activator slide to movefreely up and down past the bellcrank lever 71, see' Fig. 8.

A rod 77 is fixed to one side of activator slide 76, and is .held spaced therefrom but parallel thereto bytwo arms 78, '79, Fig. 12. A pair of set screws 80, 81 are screwed into tapped bores extending through arms 78, 79, respectively, and are aligned and extend toward each-other, so as to constitute adjustable stops or abutments for a slide bracket 82. This slide bracket is welded or otherwise secured to the crank operated slide 50 and projects outwardly therefrom sufficiently far to embrace rod 77. A pin 83 is fixed to slide bracket 82 in position to strikethe ends of the set-screws 80, 81 as the slide bracket is:moved up and downby slide 50.

The construction just described may be said to be a lost motion mechanism which effects alternate opening and closing of hooks 51, 52, 54, as crank 48 rotates. In the upper position of activator slide 76, Fig. 8, the hooks are closedby reason of the actuation of bell crank 71 through slide action on arm 75, but when slide 76 is moved below the bell crank lever 71, the coil spring 62 will immediately open or separate the hooks, "as shown in Fig. 9.

The parts are so synchronized that as soon as the pallet pick-up mechanism moves to the extreme right (full line) position of Fig. 7, the actuator slide 76 moves up to close the hooks around the underside of the pallet. Then the pallet is lifted and swung by the parallel motion linkage to the take-away conveyor 90, is deposited on that conveyor, and is released by opening or separation of the hooks. Thereafter, the parallel motion linkage swings back again to the extreme right position illustrated. The lifting and lowering of the pallet is a smooth operation, with no jarring of the wet tile shape and hence no damage to it. The pallet is maintained horizontal and is not turned or tipped.

The take-away conveyor 90 comprises a supporting frame 91, Fig. 1, a pair of sprocket chains 92, 93 each having lugs 94 fixed to and upstanding therefrom to engage the edges of the pallets as they are deposited on the conveyor by the transfer mechanism, a pair of sprockets 95 on a shaft 96 journaled at the receiving end of the conveyor, another pair of sprockets 7 on a shaft 98 journaled at the discharge end of the conveyor and parallel chain guides 99, 1% supported on top of frame 91.

Shaft 96 is driven by a sprocket 1G1 fixed thereto and a chain 102 passed around such sprocket, the chain being driven by a countershaft 103 which is connectedthrough a rubber-cushioned, permanently-engaged clutch 164, Fig. 3with a shaft 165, this last shaft being driven by gearing res driven by shaft 49. Thus the take-away conveyor is synchronized with the transfer mechanism, the clutch 194 providing a convenient way of interconnecting the two shafts 105 and 103 in a way minimizing the transfer of vibration.

Tile-trimming means are mounted on the take-away conveyor. These conveniently take the form of rotary knives 167 and 1&3, Fig. 1, driven by motors 169 and 110, respectively, which are mounted on opposite sides of frame 91. The knives are set to rotate in respective vertical planes which are at acute angles to the path of movement of the loaded pallets 24 along the conveyor.

As the pallets move along, the roughly broken end edges of the wet tiles carried thereby, are simultaneously engaged by the knives and'are trimmed smooth and to the exact dimensions desired. Motors it and lit} are preferably on adjustable mounts (not shown) to permit adjustment for perfect trimming.

It will be appreciated that the take-away conveyor 90, instead of extending to the left of the pallet conveyor 25,

as in Fig.1, may extend to the right thereof; in which case it would onlybe necessary to re-locate the drive'and transfer mechanisms "to sides of the pallet conveyor oppositethose at Whichtheyare presently located.

The extrusion opening 23, it will be remembered, is defined, so far-as the machineitself is concerned, by'a vibrator block having the desired tile shape. This block is shown in Figs. 4 and 5, being designated 120. Itis securely affixed, as by bolting,.to.the rear vend plate 20a of hopper20, which is formed independently of the other walls of suh hopper and is movable relative thereto. Also securely affixed to plate 20a is vibratory mechanism having both back and forth and up anddown vibrating motion components.

Such vibratory mechanism comprisesan eccentric shaft 121 journaled inbearings 122 and driven by preferably "an electric motor 123,'Fig. 1, through drive 124. An eccentric sleeve 125 journaled in a pillow block bearing126, which is afiixed ,to hopper wall 20a by cap. screws 127,

provides an adju'stable'take o'if for the vibratory .movement of eccentric shaft 121. ;By rotating sleeve'125 more or less relativetoishaft .121,'the"vibratory stroke may be "set from zeroto amaximum, determined by design considerations. Am'aximumthroW of'one-eig'hth of an'inch issatisfactory-in'most'instances. Such a range of throw will-enable a wide range of aggregate sizes to beemployed. The hub of sleeve 125 is advantageously knurled to facilitate throw adjustment.

Whereas this invention is here illustrated and described with respect to a particular preferred construction, it is to be understood that various changes may be made therein without departing from the inventive concepts as defined by the claims which here follow.

We claim:

1. In a tile-making machine, which includes a substantially horizontal, power-driven, pallet conveyor; means directly above said pallet conveyor for depositing Wet aggregate on the pallets and for forming tile shapes thereon; and a take-away conveyor whose receiving end is close to the discharge end of the pallet conveyor; a power-driven transfer mechanism located at the discharge end of the pallet conveyor for picking up the loaded pallets from the pallet conveyor and setting them down on the receiving end of the take-away conveyor Without change in directional orientation, said transfer mechanism comprising a parallel-motion linkage that is swingable in a vertical plane offset laterally from the pallet conveyor and includes a pair of parallel links pivotally mounted at their lower ends for back and forth swinging movement longitudinally of the pallet conveyor and a horizontal link pivotally interconnecting the upper ends of said parallel links; a pallet-carrying mechanism supported by said horizontal link of the parallel-motion linkage, said pallet-carrying mechanism overhanging the pallet conveyor in one extreme position of the parallel-motion linkage and the take-away conveyor in the other extreme position thereof and comprising a pair of inwardly positioned, mutually spaced hooks mounted to swing in respective vertical planes and a single outwardly positioned opposing hook mounted to swing in a vertical plane midway between said respective vertical planes, thereby providing three-point engagement and suspension for a loaded pallet, a rockshaft mounting said spaced hooks, and drive linkage intermediate the hooks of said pair for operating the rockshaft and said single hook in common; drive mechanism for said drive linkage, comprising a slide mounted on and operable longitudinally along one of the parallel links of said parallel-motion linkage, said slide having an arm projecting therefrom, lost motion mechanism includinga swing shaft pivotally attached at its upper end to the horizontal link of said parallel-motion linkage and extending downwardly between the parallel links of the latter, an elongate slide mounted on the swing shaft for upward and downward movement therealong and having a closed ends slideway affixed thereto, the arm of the parallel-motion linkage slide engaging said slideway for lost motion between said closed ends and for moving said elongate slide upwardly and downwardly as the reciprocative stroke of said linkage slide exceeds the length of said slideway, a drive bell crank pivotally mounted intermediate its arms on the upper end portion of said shaft for lateral swinging movedrive of said conveyors for reciprocating said linkage slide. a t- 2. The combination recited in claim 1, wherein an adjustable length, screw type link is provided as a rotatable connection between the said one arm of the ,drive bell crank and the said drive linkage.

3. The combination recited in claim 2, wherein the single book is of bell crank. formation having an actuating arm and the drive linkage comprises a link pivotally mounted at one of its ends on the horizontal link of the 8 parallel-motion linkage and having the screw-type link pivotally secured thereto remote from said end, a crank on the rockshaft, a link pivotally interconnecting the.

crank with said pivotally mounted link between the pivoted end thereof and said screw-type link, and a link pivotally interconnecting the actuating arm of said single hook withthe free end of said pivotally mounted link.

4. The combination recited in claim 1, wherein the length of the closed ends slideway of said lost motion mechanism is adjustable at both ends of said slideway.

References Cited in the tile of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,559,498 Brandell Oct. 27, 1925 1,766,573 Westin June 24, 1930 1,959,512 Wall et a1. 'May 22, 1934 2,496,000 Bugenhagen Jan. 31, 1950 2,581,568 Wooley Jan. 8, 1952 2,641,819 Peavy June 16, 1953 2,752,656 Rutgers July 3, 1956 FOREIGN PATENTS 58,583 France Sept. 30, 1953 (Addition to No. 993,925)

676,320 Great Britain July 23, 1952 539,359 Italy Feb. 10, 1956 

